Drink, bathe and be merry, for soon Aqua Pa. water rates will go up about 10 percent

Water rates for 433,000 Aqua Pennsylvania customers will jump by about 10 percent in a couple of weeks. Wastewater rates are going up, too.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission on Thursday approved a settlement allowing the Bryn Mawr company to boost revenue from water customers by 9.8 percent, and from wastewater customers by 34.6 percent. The increase, the first in seven years, will go into effect on May 24.

Under the settlement, Aqua will receive an annual increase of $47 million, or 10.6 percent, for combined water and wastewater revenue. When it filed the request in August, it sought a combined revenue increase of $71.8 million.

The average monthly bill for a residential Main Division water customer, using 4,080 gallons per month, will increase $5.67, from $59.85 to $65.52 a month, or 9.5 percent.

The average monthly residential wastewater bill for a customer using 4,200 gallons per month would increase $8.91, from $57.64 to $66.55, or 13.4 percent.

Aqua provides water service to more than 433,000 customers in portions of 32 counties. It provides wastewater service to more than 21,000 customers in 15 counties.

Aqua said the primary reason for the increase was to recover $2.2 billion it invested in infrastructure, including upgrades to its distribution and treatment systems, since it last received a rate increase in 2012.

Under the settlement, the company will be allowed to recover $7.1 million of its wastewater revenue from water customers. Some Aqua water customers complained about picking up some cost of wastewater systems they do not use, but the state utility code allows cross-subsidization between water and wastewater systems if it is “in the public interest.”

The settlement, reached with consumer advocates and the PUC staff, also provides for the merging of Superior Water Co. into Aqua Pennsylvania. Superior currently provides water service in portions of Montgomery and Berks Counties.